Leherein

Kuch to khaas hai in lehro me

Jo mujhse yun takrati hai,

Shor me khamoshi jaisi,

Subah ki pheli angadayi jaisi,

Jaise ho koi tamanna adhuri si,

Na jaane kisko chuna chahti hai.

Koi baat chupaye hai shayad apne seene mein,

Kuch to kehna chahti hai,

Kayi ankahi kahaniya dabi hai andar,

Awaaz lagakr mujhko bulati hai,

Samajh ni paati me inki jubaan,

To shayad ruth jaati hai,

Ufaan ki tarah aati hai,

Or maati k mehel ki tarah mujhko baha le jaati hai.

Rokna ni chahti me bhi khudko

Bas saath chalti jaati hu,

Thoda sa laut aati hu

Or thoda sa beh jaati hu.

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Finally hanged or 'Hanging'...

We do not take her name because we don't know. We call her 'daughter of India', 'Nirbhaya', 'Damini' etc.. We don't take her name because of legal reason and also because we think we know a lot about her, she wanted to be a physiotherapist, her last movie was Life of Pie which proved fatal and she was raped brutally and we think we know her in and out.

The thought of the broken bones, damaged intestines and still the desire to live are somethings that make all of us feel that she is very dear to us. We have started seeing our sisters, daughters, friends in her. Every Indian has established a relationship with her.

Incidentally, it was so very natural for all of us to celebrate when the rapists and murders have been sentenced to death. Some people say that justice has been served others say that this will make her soul rest in peace. But I wonder will it really?

With due respect to the court's verdict and the girl's sentiments, I don't support the judgement. Death sentence for me is like 'tit-for-tat'. You killed her so I kill you. Your killing wasn't justified but mine is. I think a person's actions are dependent on the circumstances and his psyche at that point of time. Yes, this certainly doesn't justify their actions but it intensifies them.

What is required is understanding a criminal's frame of mind. A punishment should always try to reform and a death penalty is never the end to any form of crime because a death penalty decides a person's future course of life and not his future course of thoughts. He might remain as evil as he was earlier, in some cases he might be even worse. Aren't we doing the same crime? Aren't we becoming equally sadistic in our actions?

A death penalty gives you a way to forget. You commit a crime, you get death and you forget or a crime is committed against you, you protest against it, the court sentences the criminal to death, you celebrate and you forget. India, is a country where we have this ingenious ability to look away and a death penalty is a perfect way to look away from any sort of crime. But as a society the onus to purify the thoughts lies on us. The onus to make them feel that their actions were severely wrong and that this crime can't be looked away lies on us.

Although no country can stop rapes or sexual assaults against women, but they try to impart minimum freedom to their women. India is one such nation where on the one hand people talk about degrading status of the women and on the other hand notable lawyers (read A.P. Singh) say that he would burn his daughter if she was found roaming around with her boyfriend. I think the battle, despite the death penalty, has been lost.

More than a death sentence, Nirbhaya would have wanted a safer country for women. She would have wanted no silence till the time there are silent atrocities against women. She would have wanted action and reaction but no 'looking away' in the disguise of death penalty.

Justice can never be done when the criminal is hanged but the crime remains hanging.

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Caught by a poet & bitten by a shutterbug ;)

Kuch baat hai is jagah me
Apna sa lagta h yha
Kuch din hue h yha
Par hamesha sa lagta hai yha..
Kabhi baadal kabhi in sitaaro me kho jaane ka mann krta hai.
Jab bhi dekhti hu ye neeli chadar sa neela asmaan
Thoda sa chup jaane ka mann krta hai,
In ghane pedo k daaliyo me jhul jaane ka mann krta hai.
Kuch baat hai is jagah me
Kabhi kabhi thoda say hi rhe jaane ka mann krta hai.
Ek ajeeb si khamoshi hai yha
Bas sunte jaane ka mann krta h
Ek khushbu h yha k hawa me,
Kuch kuch meri jaisi lagti h wo
Ek ada hai yha k mausam me
Bada itraata hai wo
Kuch baat hai is jagah me
Chalte jaane ka mann krta h,
Kuch baat hai is jagah me
Thoda sa iska ho jaane ka mann krta h

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